Celta Vigo vs Rayo Vallecano prediction: SPAIN: LaLiga betting tips on match 2023-03-10 17:30.
After denting the European ambitions of both Real Sociedad (1-1) and Osasuna (0-0) away from home within their last three games (W1, D2), Celta Vigo will be seeking to deal the same damage to seventh-place Rayo Vallecano at home. Given they ended the last round just three points ahead of the danger zone despite their mid-table position (12th), their opponents’ fortunes will be the last thing on their mind as they focus on their own survival.
A proud manager Carlos Carvalhal praised the “very strong and very competitive attitude” of his team after leaving Osasuna with a point, an opposition he described as “the most difficult” after Celta matched their longest unbeaten LL period since the World Cup. Greater winning consistency is what Carvalhal will now be desiring, and that is still far from guaranteed with his side lamenting one of the season’s poorest LL records as pre-match favourites (W5, D3, L4), a tag they carry here.
Vallecano’s immediate aim will be to become the fifth current top-half side to win away at Celta this LL season (W4, D1, L2), though it doesn’t appear likely after a scoreless draw at home to Athletic Bilbao confirmed their longest stretch of LL games without a win (D3, L1) of the season as European football threatens to slip from their grasp again.
Manager Andoni Iraola, who recently turned down what would have been the fourth-most expensive managerial appointment in Premier League history to move to Leeds, called for “humility without losing ambition” in the wake of the weekend’s stalemate. That humility came to the fore when he identified survival as their first aim despite sixth place still being within reach, perhaps as a result of bruising results against both bottom-half Cádiz (L 1-0) and Getafe (D 1-1) in their two most recent LL away trips.
Key battle: Thanks in part to an excellent save rate of 80%, Celta goalkeeper Iván Villar has stepped up to collect consecutive clean sheets. Looking to end that run will be Vallecano’s Sergio Camello, who has scored their first goal in two of their last five LL away games.
Hot streak: Vallecano’s last eight LL matches all produced fewer than 2.5 total goals, as have all but two of Celta’s last 11.